Sunday, December 12, 2010
Narnia Returns With New Twists
http://staticmultimedia.com/movies/features-interviews-movies/the-chronicles-of-narnia-returns
The Chronicles of Narnia returns to theaters this Christmas season with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The film brings old and new plots to create another magical experience with the Pevensies. This time, Lucy and Edmund return to Narnia through a painting, bringing their selfish cousin Eustace along with them. When they meet up with King Caspian, they join him on a quest that will not only test their physical strength, but their mental and spiritual strength, as well.
On a voyage to the east, Caspian is fulfilling an oath to find the seven lost Lords of Telmar, the best friends of his murdered father. Their journey takes them to five islands, each of which brings the ship’s crew unexpected peril and adventure, and each has its own hidden, seductive secret. Caspian and his men discover the existence of an evil green mist that has powers to kidnap not just people’s bodies, but their minds as well.
A wise old magician, Coriakin, explains to Caspian and the Pevensies, that to break this deadly spell they must find the seven Lords and retrieve each of the swords gifted to them by Aslan to protect Narnia. Once collected and laid upon Aslan’s banquet table, the swords will empower them to defeat the mist and the Witch. Without this union of the seven swords, they and Narnia will be destroyed.
The swords are new to the classic story, originally penned in C.S. Lewis’ famous series. Published between 1950 and 1956 and long regarded as one of literature’s most enduring and imaginative works, Lewis’ books have sold over 100,000,000 copies in over 50 different languages. Voyage of the Dawn Treader takes a new turn with the quest for Aslan’s swords.
“In the book, the narrative thread revolves around Caspian’s search for seven Lords, but in the film, the quest is for seven swords,” director Michael Apted said. “The threat of the Green Mist, as depicted in our film, isn’t really touched on in the book The Voyage of The Dawn Treader – though it does appear in a subsequent book.”
“In the film, the quest for the seven swords is there to reinforce the purpose of Caspian’s journey to the edge of the world,” executive producer Douglas Gresham said.
Gresham, who is C.S. Lewis’ stepson, has made it a lifelong mission to bring Lewis’ books to the screen. “The film’s sword motif is an addition to the book’s story line about the seven Lords of Telmar and has been added to help drive the story forward to keep the audiences enthralled,” Gresham said.
While many fans were disappointed with the changes made in “Prince Caspian,” namely an added battle scene and a romantic subplot, those involved in the third film hope additions will enhance the plot and stay true to the themes of the original story.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a story largely about temptation,” Gresham said. “Along the journey, Caspian, Eustace, Lucy and Edmund and the entire crew of The Dawn Treader face many challenges and adventures, and cope with the accompanying temptations. Each character meets his or her deepest temptations, which we have seen glimpses of in the previous movies.”
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was very much about faith. ‘Prince Caspian’ was about losing and regaining that faith,” producer Mark Johnson said. “This new film is about overcoming temptation. We made sure that theme was an important element of our movie, in the guise of telling a great and magical story.”
As the film mixes the original classic themes with new plot elements, it also takes off in a new direction away from the land of Narnia. The story takes characters away from Narnia to various islands, but it remains Narnian, nonetheless. “In my view, The Dawn Treader is Narnia,” Apted said. “We never go to [the land of] Narnia in this story, so I always made the point that the boat is Narnia. The boat embodies everything that Narnia is. When you’re on The Dawn Treader, you’re in Narnia.”
“The Dawn Treader is more than a set; it’s a character,” Johnson said. "The vessel took about $2.7 million and almost 400 construction workers to build. Workers erected the 140-foot, 125-ton ship in an Australian seaside peninsula called Cleveland Point.
Fans and movie goers will be able to take their own magic ride with the Dawn Treader when the film arrives in theaters December 10.
The Chronicles of Narnia returns to theaters this Christmas season with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The film brings old and new plots to create another magical experience with the Pevensies. This time, Lucy and Edmund return to Narnia through a painting, bringing their selfish cousin Eustace along with them. When they meet up with King Caspian, they join him on a quest that will not only test their physical strength, but their mental and spiritual strength, as well.
On a voyage to the east, Caspian is fulfilling an oath to find the seven lost Lords of Telmar, the best friends of his murdered father. Their journey takes them to five islands, each of which brings the ship’s crew unexpected peril and adventure, and each has its own hidden, seductive secret. Caspian and his men discover the existence of an evil green mist that has powers to kidnap not just people’s bodies, but their minds as well.
A wise old magician, Coriakin, explains to Caspian and the Pevensies, that to break this deadly spell they must find the seven Lords and retrieve each of the swords gifted to them by Aslan to protect Narnia. Once collected and laid upon Aslan’s banquet table, the swords will empower them to defeat the mist and the Witch. Without this union of the seven swords, they and Narnia will be destroyed.
The swords are new to the classic story, originally penned in C.S. Lewis’ famous series. Published between 1950 and 1956 and long regarded as one of literature’s most enduring and imaginative works, Lewis’ books have sold over 100,000,000 copies in over 50 different languages. Voyage of the Dawn Treader takes a new turn with the quest for Aslan’s swords.
“In the book, the narrative thread revolves around Caspian’s search for seven Lords, but in the film, the quest is for seven swords,” director Michael Apted said. “The threat of the Green Mist, as depicted in our film, isn’t really touched on in the book The Voyage of The Dawn Treader – though it does appear in a subsequent book.”
“In the film, the quest for the seven swords is there to reinforce the purpose of Caspian’s journey to the edge of the world,” executive producer Douglas Gresham said.
Gresham, who is C.S. Lewis’ stepson, has made it a lifelong mission to bring Lewis’ books to the screen. “The film’s sword motif is an addition to the book’s story line about the seven Lords of Telmar and has been added to help drive the story forward to keep the audiences enthralled,” Gresham said.
While many fans were disappointed with the changes made in “Prince Caspian,” namely an added battle scene and a romantic subplot, those involved in the third film hope additions will enhance the plot and stay true to the themes of the original story.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a story largely about temptation,” Gresham said. “Along the journey, Caspian, Eustace, Lucy and Edmund and the entire crew of The Dawn Treader face many challenges and adventures, and cope with the accompanying temptations. Each character meets his or her deepest temptations, which we have seen glimpses of in the previous movies.”
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was very much about faith. ‘Prince Caspian’ was about losing and regaining that faith,” producer Mark Johnson said. “This new film is about overcoming temptation. We made sure that theme was an important element of our movie, in the guise of telling a great and magical story.”
As the film mixes the original classic themes with new plot elements, it also takes off in a new direction away from the land of Narnia. The story takes characters away from Narnia to various islands, but it remains Narnian, nonetheless. “In my view, The Dawn Treader is Narnia,” Apted said. “We never go to [the land of] Narnia in this story, so I always made the point that the boat is Narnia. The boat embodies everything that Narnia is. When you’re on The Dawn Treader, you’re in Narnia.”
“The Dawn Treader is more than a set; it’s a character,” Johnson said. "The vessel took about $2.7 million and almost 400 construction workers to build. Workers erected the 140-foot, 125-ton ship in an Australian seaside peninsula called Cleveland Point.
“It’s the most impressive set I’ve ever seen,” producer Andrew Adamson said. “The Dawn Treader is such an iconic symbol. To some degree, it’s almost like Aslan. When I saw the boat fully assembled for the first time and walked onto it, the experience was how I imagined it as a boy reading the book.”
Fans and movie goers will be able to take their own magic ride with the Dawn Treader when the film arrives in theaters December 10.
DVD Review: "I Am"
http://staticmultimedia.com/blu-ray-dvd/i-am-finds-peace
While, at first look, I Am may seem like a rehashed knock-off of the controversial book The Shack, the film contains little to incite controversy. God takes on the form of an African American man in casual clothes in the film. However, His conversations with the characters of the film seem more like the quiet conversations, pleas and prayers of the heart than like face-to-face, God intervening encounters. The conversations feel like what’s presented in Romans 2:15: “They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them at other times even defending them.”
The true heart of I Am lies in the Ten Commandments, however, as the commandments are shown on the screen throughout the movie as different characters encounter the consequences of their actions taken against the commandments. Some such actions take the form of odd, unexpected sins. One woman, for example, puts “other gods before me” when she has herself frozen in order to keep herself alive. The man who freezes her after she blackmails him has visions of the woman taunting him, tempting him to kill her, and, thus, he creates a “graven image.”
Other applications of the commandments are refreshingly different. Instead of focusing on the common conception of God forbidding the use of his name as a swear word, the film shows a man using God’s name to sell a product, or “taking God’s name in vain.” Another character learns to honor the Sabbath, not by setting aside a day every week for God and church, but by taking time to rest from work and life’s troubles to spend time on the things that really matter, such as being with his family.
These situations are part of a larger plot as other commandments like the commandment to not commit adultery come into play and as the lives of the ten main characters intertwine. There’s no one consistent plot to follow, and the different stories can confuse the viewer because of the way they are organized, but the pieces come together in the end to complete a puzzle that makes viewers think about their own lives.
Ultimately, I Am is not about preaching a bunch of rules and stuffing them in the viewer’s face. Instead, it is about finding peace in life. Revenge, human love, science, alcohol, memorialization of a passed loved one and everything else can never erase the past. As the God in the film says, the past can find justice, but man can never forget. What man truly needs is peace.
While, at first look, I Am may seem like a rehashed knock-off of the controversial book The Shack, the film contains little to incite controversy. God takes on the form of an African American man in casual clothes in the film. However, His conversations with the characters of the film seem more like the quiet conversations, pleas and prayers of the heart than like face-to-face, God intervening encounters. The conversations feel like what’s presented in Romans 2:15: “They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them at other times even defending them.”
The true heart of I Am lies in the Ten Commandments, however, as the commandments are shown on the screen throughout the movie as different characters encounter the consequences of their actions taken against the commandments. Some such actions take the form of odd, unexpected sins. One woman, for example, puts “other gods before me” when she has herself frozen in order to keep herself alive. The man who freezes her after she blackmails him has visions of the woman taunting him, tempting him to kill her, and, thus, he creates a “graven image.”
Other applications of the commandments are refreshingly different. Instead of focusing on the common conception of God forbidding the use of his name as a swear word, the film shows a man using God’s name to sell a product, or “taking God’s name in vain.” Another character learns to honor the Sabbath, not by setting aside a day every week for God and church, but by taking time to rest from work and life’s troubles to spend time on the things that really matter, such as being with his family.
These situations are part of a larger plot as other commandments like the commandment to not commit adultery come into play and as the lives of the ten main characters intertwine. There’s no one consistent plot to follow, and the different stories can confuse the viewer because of the way they are organized, but the pieces come together in the end to complete a puzzle that makes viewers think about their own lives.
Ultimately, I Am is not about preaching a bunch of rules and stuffing them in the viewer’s face. Instead, it is about finding peace in life. Revenge, human love, science, alcohol, memorialization of a passed loved one and everything else can never erase the past. As the God in the film says, the past can find justice, but man can never forget. What man truly needs is peace.
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